The Shadow
by Queen Of HeartsXx
Summary: NaminexRoxas. Namine played the role of a shadow well. AU.
1. I: A Shadow's Life

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy copyright Square-Enix**

**Notes: Radiant Garden Academy (the school they attend) goes from kindergarten to high school. Axel & Yuffie are freshmen in this fanfiction. Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and Cid are Teachers. Leon is a sophomore and shall be called Squall.**

**The Shadow**

**A Shadow's Life**

I stared blankly out the fogged up car window and let out a small sigh. Transferring schools was always a pain in the behind, you lost friends that way. But the school I was transferring to, wasn't a new school to me. Radiant Garden Academy. I went there from kindergarten to second grade, and now I'm returning to the school for eighth grade.

Nervous? You bet. But it shouldn't be _that_ bad. My old friends still went there.

Let's see, there was: Selphie, Kairi, Axel, Yuffie, and...

_Sora._

Truth be told, I've had a crush on Sora for those three years I was at RGA. Sure, going through middle school I've had my fair share of crushes, but then.. it was always _Sora _that popped into my head. The torture. Oh, the torture.

The car violently lurched forward all of a sudden, snapping myself out of my thoughts. I looked forward startled and knitted my eyebrows together.

"Dad!" I whined. He turned to face me with a sheepish smile on his middle-aged face.

"Sorry, Namine." I rolled my eyes and sighed. After unbuckling my seatbelt, I grabbed my bag and umbrella and stepped out of the car. It was _pouring_ today, and I _really_ didn't want to get my uniform wet.

The shirt was white.

I mean, if it wasn't, I'd be all over the rain. Dancing in it and what-not, but I'd rather not have a bunch of boys staring at my bra.

I waved to my father as he drove off and walked into the large school building. Wandering around the hallways, I bumped into someone and immediately started apologizing. The girl just gave me a blank stare then the next thing I knew, I was being hugged.

"Oh my gosh! Namine!" I stared straight ahead in shock, as a bunch of people turned around and stared. Pretty soon a bunch of girls surrounded me and gave me a hug. Namine, nono like hugs.

Since RGA was a private school, everybody pretty much knew.. everybody. That would explain the hugging by a bunch of girls my age.

"H-hey, everyone. U-um, I can't _breathe_." The girls soon let go and I looked at all of them. The girl in front of me that I bumped into turned out to be Kairi.

Kairi was a red-headed girl that people often mistook for me. Besides having a different hair-color, she looked almost _exactly_ like me. Her big eyes smiled at me, and her face gave of one of it's own, as well. Looking around I also noticed, Selphie, one of my best friends. We kept in touch while I was gone, and the reason why we became friends was.. well because..

We were both... weird when younger. And we still sort of are.

I also recognized Yuffie. Yuffie was exceptionally tall for her age, like Axel. He was _tall_.

"You came back! Yay!" Selphie exclaimed, hopping up and down excitedly. I nodded and started to chat with them as we walked towards our homeroom classes.

"See you later, Nam!" Yuffie called out.

"Yeah! See Ya, Namie!" Selphie.

"Well, let's get to our class. We have Mr. Masamune." Kairi said looking down at her schedule. "I heard that he's creepy.."

I just shrugged and walked into the classroom. Students wandered around the classroom, talking to each other and laughing at others' jokes. Kairi and I headed over to the back of the classroom and sat in some empty seats.

Pretty soon, a man with long silver hair walked in and glared at all the students, making them scramble into the nearest seat. He smirked then turned around to white something on the whiteboard. After literally three seconds, in surprisingly neat handwriting, it said:

**Sephiroth-sama**

"Okay, Victims. I am Mr. Masamune. But call me Sephiroth-sama, because Mr. Masamune makes me feel old. Now, I'm going to quickly go over the rules of this classroom." He glared at us all before continuing to speak again, "Rule number one: You must obey Sephiroth-sama. Now, you try and say it."

"We must obey Sephiroth-sama." The class all said in unison.

"Well, It's a start. Now, open your History books to page one and look over the table of contents while I go get my sword from the trunk of my car." Everyone in the class quickly obeyed, and looked over the page. Halfway through the page, I started to hear some whispering from what seemed to be two boys, I was about to look up and see who they were, but my head quickly snapped down when I heard a loud voice echo throughout the class.

"WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT READING THE TABLE OF CONTENTS?" The whispering stopped as the two boys squeaked and slid into their chairs. Sephiroth's face calmed down but his voice remained eerie as he spoke. "Roxas, Sora, I wish to see you after class." He turned around and started to write something on the whiteboard, "Oh yes, and welcome to RGA Miss Masaki."

I heard some people whispering and then felt my neck heat up. And that usually happens when people are staring at me.

"Ahem. **DID I SAY YOU COULD ALL WHISPER AND STARE?**" The whispering quieted down and I heard some people shuffle about. I let out a sigh and continued to read the rest of the table of contents.

"Well, Sephiroth-sama sure is... _different_." I said as we walked out of the classroom, holding my textbooks close to my chest.

"Yeah, and he sure does give a bunch of homework. And it's only the first day!" Kairi added, letting out a long exaggerated sigh. Kairi always liked to exaggerate things...

"Yeah." I glanced down at the books I was carrying and let out a sigh as well, except not as long.

"I wonder what he's going to do to Sora and Roxas... that katana he got from his car was _really_ long.." I just nodded, I was too busy thinking about Sora to say anything, but then realized that I never knew who Roxas was. I opened my mouth, about to ask who he was but then was soon interrupted.

"Hey! Nam, Kai!" Yuffie called out. Kairi and I turned around and waved to Selphie and Yuffie then we all started heading towards our lockers together.

"Ms. Lockhart is _so_ cool!" Yuffie exclaimed, "She got Axel to shut up! And you guys all know how Axel is a stubborn ass." We all opened our mouths in shock, Kairi, of course, being the dramatic one, placed her hands on both sides of her face.

"Really? I have Mister Highwind for my homeroom teacher, and he cusses every other word! I'm surprised they let him teach at a private school like this." Selphie said flailing her right arm about, causing some of her stuff to fall onto the ground. WE all laughed as she quickly bent down to pick them up, and continued to our lockers. (which were conveniently not to far away from each other) Mine was two lockers down from Kairi's, Selphie's was on the right of Kairi's, and Yuffie's was five lockers down to the left of mine. Selphie and Yuffie finished putting their stuff away and said that they would meet Kairi and me in the lunch room.

"I wonder who has this locker.." I said to Kairi, pointing to the one between ours. I heard Kairi groan and turned around to see why. I saw a blonde-haired boy our age looking down at a green piece of paper. He looked up at the locker I was pointing at, then glanced over to me for a moment then looked over to Kairi. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"It's _such_ a pleasure to see you, Roxas." Said Kairi, whose voice was dripping with cold sarcasm and added a small glare. He returned the cold look, but smiled anyway.

"Oh _no,_ the pleasure is all _mine_, Kairi." He glanced over at me again, and I just gave him a confused look. "Yo." Was all he said to me.

"Namine, this is Roxas, he came in fifth grade. Roxas, this is Namine, she's been here before, so quit being so formal."

Obviously him saying "Yo" was formal...

"Fine then. Yo." He still said 'yo' except it was in a more annoyed and cold tone. Looks like _someone_ needs a bigger vocabulary.

"Great, you met each other and are now going to forget about each other." Kairi said clapping her hands together and turning back to her own locker, put away the last book, and closed the door. Since I was already done, she linked arms with mine and dragged me off to the lunch area.

"C'mon, Namine. Let's go find Selphie and Yuffie." I just nodded and laughed.

"Sorry for the hold-up, guys. We ran into a small problem."

"Small problem? He was taller than us, though." Selphie giggled mindlessly for about 3.2 seconds as we sat down with our lunch.

"Kairi likes Roxas!" Selphie said in a sing-song voice. Kairi slammed her fist down and glared at Selphie.

"Do not!" She seethed. Wow. Kairi mad. Namine scared.

"Gosh, Kairi." Selphie said waving her hands bath and forth. "I was just joking." Yuffie nodded.

"Yeah, Kairi. Plus, we all know that you like _Sora_." At Yuffie's statement, Kairi blushed and turned the other way pouting. This caused an eruption of laughter at the table. Well, I wasn't laughing, because I was too busy being jealous.

**Okay, the chapter is over. Axel and Sora will come in next chapter. So yeah :D **

**Also, this chapter was more of the introduction, and the reason why Sephiroth said "Welcome to Radiant Garden" to Namine, was because they usually don't get any new students. And the reason why he didn't say "Welcome _back_" was because he has never seen Namine before. He knew who she was because she was new, and he memorized all the names over the summer, haha.**

**I know, Sephiroth-san is weird. But aren't we all?**

**Main Characters:**

Namine Masaki

Kairi Hikari

Sora Kinomoto

Roxas Kurosawa

Axel Hara

Yuffie Yamada

Selphie Hasegawa

**Preview of the next chapter:**

_Over the next few weeks, Kairi and I became best friends. I felt like her alter ego or something. But I was still a bit jealous of her. I mean, she was so content with herself, and people often preferred her over myself. I felt kind of like a shadow. Something that follows someone around but that no one pays attention to. Because they're too busy paying attention to the actual person._


	2. II: A Shadow's Loneliness

**A/N: Ok, here's another chapter. I changed the rating, because.. I looked over this chapter and I'm just like.. 'wow, this is not K+' Hehe, me and cussing --;**

**And Bianca (mecherio), This story is a mix between your life and mine. Y'know how mine is more angst-ish ;D Okay okay, it's more of Candy's. You remember Candy, right? And pssh, don't call me Moette on fanfiction! Use my real name xD**

**Sorry about that, I just had to say that.. and I guess it tells you where the inspiration came from.**

**mecherio is my good friend that told me about fanfiction, so you should thank her if you like my stories ;D**

**HONG. Thank you all for the reviews. I feel special that people want to know about my life! Are you guys waiting for some French or what? ...Fine..**

**Oh mon Dieu. C'est le chapitre duex.**

**The Shadow**

**A Shadow's Loneliness**

:-:

_Over the next few weeks, Kairi and I became best friends. I felt like her alter ego or something. But I was still a bit jealous of her. I mean, she was so content with herself, and people often preferred her over myself. I felt kind of like a shadow. Something that follows someone around but that no one pays attention to. Because they're too busy paying attention to the actual person._

"I am a question to the world  
Not an answer to the earth  
Or a moment  
That's held in your arms"

Namine groggily sat up in bed and flipped open her cell phone to turn off the alarm. Glancing at the time, she yawned a bit before heading towards the bathroom to spruce herself up a bit. As in: washing her face and brushing her teeth. A replica of the blonde stared back at her through a mirror, and Namine just shrugged to herself.

'_Not like I'm going to get any prettier or anything..'_

So she admits it, she's terribly envious of Kairi. Kairi, with the darker shade of blue eyes. Kairi, with the auburn colored hair. Kairi, with the great personality. Kairi, Kairi, Kairi.

Kairi.

Namine shook her head. She shouldn't be angry at Kairi. She didn't do anything, it was her own fault. She was the one in control of her own life and it was her decision whether to make it a good one or not.

Namine took one last look at the mirror and sighed, then headed over to her computer and signed onto AIM.

Her and her friends would always go on the computer in the morning, they didn't know why, but they'd rather go on in the morning than at night.

Namine just didn't care. She loved the computer.

"Let's see, Kairi's on, Selphie's on, Axel's on..." A window popped up, with a Kairi saying hi.

**MirrorxonxthexWall0175: **Hey, Namine.

**BrokenArt547: **Hullo

**MirrorxonxthexWall0175: **Could you do me a favor?

**BrokenArt547:** Maybe, depends.

**MirrorxonxthexWall0175: **Could you paweese ask Sora if he likes anyone?

**BrokenArt547:** WHAT! Nooo! I'm not asking Sora. That'd be way too random!

**MirrorxonxthexWall0175: **PLEASE!

**BrokenArt547:** -sigh- Fine..

**MirrorxonxthexWall0175: **YAY!

**MirrorxonxthexWall0175: **Thank you, Namine!

**BrokenArt547:** Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

**BrokenArt547:** H/O

Namine minimized the box and sent an IM to Sora.

**BrokenArt547:** Hey

**Kingdom Key007: **Yo! Wut up?

**BrokenArt547:** Not much. XD

**Kingdom Key007: **So...

**BrokenArt547:** Psst, Sora.

**Kingdom Key007: **Yea?

**BrokenArt547:** Do you like anyone ;P

**Kingdom Key007: **Uhh..

**Kingdom Key007: **Umm.

**BrokenArt547:** AHAH! You do!

**BrokenArt547:** Tell me!

**Kingdom Key007: **Wut? Why?

**BrokenArt547:** Cause I'm your friend :D

**Kingdom Key007: **Damn it all..

**BrokenArt547:** Tell me!

**Kingdom Key007: **Fine, I'll tell you.

**Kingdom Key007: **I like

**Kingdom Key007: **K

**BrokenArt547:** AIRI?

**Kingdom Key007: **..yes...

Namine's heart dropped to her stomach.

**BrokenArt547:** Hah!

**Kingdom Key007: **hey, I'm trusting this with you. Don't tell anyone. Especially not Selphie.

**BrokenArt547:** You got it, Hey I gotta go. Breakfast is ready.

Namine clicked out of the box and told Kairi that she had to go but that she'd talk to her at school.

Breakfast really wasn't ready yet, but the blonde-haired girl needed an excuse to sign off. It was going to be weird facing Sora now.

:-:

"Namine! Breakfast's ready!"

"Kay, Mom!"

Namine grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs and plopped into one of the chairs at the table. After eating her eggs and bacon, she waved goodbye and started to walk off to school.

Halfway there, Namine started to hear a noise following her. The girl was about to turn around to see who it was, but when turning her head the slightest, she met a pair of blue orbs.

"Oh my God!" She said as she stumbled back in shock. Placing a hand over her chest she took a deep breathe then composed herself. "You.. You scared me half to death!"

"So if I scared you half to death again, then you'd die?" Came the cocky statement. Namine narrowed her eyes and huffed.

"I can see how everyone thinks you're annoying." She said, starting to walk ahead, already irked by his behavior. Roxas kept up with his skateboard.

"Aww, c'mon. I'm not _that_ annoying." Namine brushed a strand of hair behind her ears before turning around and glaring.

"What are you? Following me or something?"

"Nah, I'm just going in the same direction as you and you happen to keep going in front of me."

"Could you please just leave me alone."

"The way you said that made it seem like you were already alone." Roxas's voice softened, and it scared Namine. Was he trying to fool her? She lowered her head and sighed.

"Maybe I am." There was a silence, but it wasn't awkward, the only thing that kept it sane thought was the rhythm of Roxas's skateboard's wheels slapping against the concrete. Namine was almost relieved, thinking that the silence would last until school, but the blonde-haired boy next to her broke it.

"You are never alone. There is always someone there, even though it may not seem like it." And then he skated off, leaving Namine to think about those words.

:-:

"So, Namine!" Kairi grabbed onto Namine's arm and pulled her to the side. "Okay, spill. Who does he like."

Namine was really good at hiding her feelings, so she immediately put on a grin, indicating that Sora liked Kairi, and at that, the auburn haired girl squealed.

"Oh my gosh, really? That is... so cool!" Namine nodded, forcing myself to agree. At least she was happy, right?

'Not like I was in _love_ with Sora... right?'

'_Who am I fooling, I'm all alone now.'_

Then Namine remembered Roxas's words:

"_You are never alone. There is always someone there, even though it may not seem like it."_

'Great, now I'm starting to like Roxas...'

:-:

The first few classes went by pretty quick, and it was lunch now.

"Hey, guys." Called out a red-head as he walked towards are table. Namine waved to him.

"Hey, Axel!" They all said in unison.

We all sat and ate, while talking about the latest gossip, excluding the part about Sora liking Kairi. Then later, two people walked up to us while we were talking about Selphie's shoe problems.

"Hey," The table looked up to see Sora grinning and they all grinned back, "Can we sit down?"

"Of course you can, Sora." She turned to glare at Roxas, "I'm not sure about him though." Namine looked down at her food and played around with the peas. She felt bad about Roxas being rejected like that. What did Kairi have against him anyway? Luckily, Roxas already finished his lunch.

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Why can't Roxas sit with us?" He asked. Kairi opened her mouth to speak, but Roxas interrupted her.

"It's all right, Sora. I wouldn't want to sit with a slut anyways." Strangely enough, even though he was talking about Kairi, he was looking directly at Namine. Or more like 'glaring at Namine when he should be glaring at Kairi'. Or something... He was looking at Namine and not Kairi and that was the point there. Did that make sense?

...Anyways...

"I'm not a slut! What makes you think I'm a slut!" Roxas rolled his eyes, making it seem like it was way too obvious.

"The way you always flirt with Sora and practically throw yourself at him." Both Sora and Kairi blushed, but Kairi's was out of embarrassment _and_ anger.

"Roxas, can you.. shut up?" Sora suggested scratching the back of his head. Roxas shrugged.

"Why don't you shut up? This is between me and Kairi."

"Bad grammar." Roxas craned his neck and let out a huff of air out of annoyance and amusement. If that was possible.

"Wouldn't you know, Miss Perfect. Oh wait, no, that's not you. You're Miss Angst. 'I deserve to die. My boyfriend dumped me for someone else! Oh no!' The truth is princess, you have it way better than a lot of us." The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them. He mumbled an embarrassed 'sorry', but Kairi couldn't hear it since she already stormed off.

Roxas scratched the back of his head nervously as Yuffie, Selphie, Sora, and Axel chased after Kairi, leaving Namine poking at her vegetables with a spork, and Roxas standing there awkwardly.

"Um, aren't you going to go after her?" He asked. Namine shook her head.

"Kairi likes to be left alone."

"Oh, I see."

An awkward silence passed.

"You like her don't you?" Roxas was caught off guard by Namine's sudden question and so he stuttered when he was trying to reply.

"O-oh, um. Why do you ask?"

"I could sense the jealousy in your voice when you got on the subject of her and Sora. And plus," The blonde stood up and picked up her lunch tray, "everyone likes Kairi."

"What do you mean 'everyone likes Kairi?'" Namine let out what appeared to be a rueful laugh and shrugged.

"I thought you would understand, but maybe I really am alone in this world."

And so the girl walked off to throw away the trash and headed to her locker, leaving a very puzzled Roxas behind.

:-:

Namine sat down and pulled out her sketchbook since she had eight more minutes to kill before the class started. She drew one long line, then another parallel to it. She glanced around, making sure no one was in the class and started to sing a soft tune that just randomly popped into her head.

"And I sit here,

In this empty classroom,

And I draw here,

Till the bell rings,

I thought he'd understand,

From the look in his eyes-"

She heard someone open the door and walk in, so she just continued to doodle on the sheet of paper in front of her. There was no way she was going to let anyone hear her sing. The bell finally rang, and Namine looked at her finished piece.

It was a girl standing by a large window, looking as if she was waiting for something...

_Or someone._

:-:

**A/N: Yuss! I finished this chapter. And hey, if you people don't review, I won't update. I want at least five for this chapter. Haha.**

**And if you've read my story: Pause.Rewind.Play, then you'd probably recognize the drawing.**

**And the song Namine was singing, _I_ made it up. And I copyright it. So if anyone steals it. I can sue. I have the right to. I doubt anyone would steal it though. Hehe..heh.**

**And the quote "You are never alone. There is always someone there, even though it may not seem like it." Is from Bianca's friend. So, she told mea bout the quote when I was talking to her about this chapter since I needed help. And so, the quote belongs to him. **

**Whoever he is.**

**...REVIEW!**


	3. III: A Shadow's Role

**A/N: I love to write these stories, I really do. Haha. So here is another chapter, and I'd love to thank all the reviewers for.. reviewing! Heh..**

**And sorry for not updating for a while, twas busy. o-o;**

**The Shadow**

**A Shadow's Role**

**Namine's Point of View**

:-:

"Okay class, today we are going to talk about an upcoming play that will take place next month during the Winter Festival here at school." Stated the teacher causing groans to come from the boys and squeals of joy from the girls. The teacher, better known as Ms. Lockhart, talked about the play, pulled out a sheet of paper, and told the students to place their names on it if they wanted to participate.

"Namine.." I turned to face Kairi, who was grinning. "How about we-"

"No." I simply said. There was no way I was going to participate in a play.

Stage fright. Major stage fright.

"But," Kairi protested, "It will be so much fun!"

"A play about some kid swinging around some kind of key, trying to destroy evil and find his friends, only to find out that one of his friends had turned to the dark side, but no, he still keeps looking, and while he's looking he learns about some sort of organization that's using evil to find some sort of empire-thing. Sounds _so much fun_."

Kairi nodded, obviously not noticing my sarcasm.

I hated plays. Stage fright. And the storyline for this one was a bit weird. I mean, _'Kingdom Hearts'_? _What_ kind of play is Kingdom Hearts? What ever happened to good ol' Romeo and Juliet?

"C'mon! You could be one of the Nobodies! I heard that one of the main character's friends has a Nobody! We can be like..." Kairi stared ahead blankly for a moment then continued, "connected or something. Whaddya say?"

"I say.. No. I mean really, 'Kingdom Hearts?'"

"Doesn't it sound so romantic! At least it's original!"

"Pssh, original my-"

"Kairi, Namine, are you two going to sign up?" Asked Ms. Lockhart. Before Namine could say no to the question, Kairi yelled out an excited 'YES!'

Oh boy.

I just looked over to Kairi who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Sighing, I leaned back into my chair, and slammed my head against my desk.

:-:

English class came along, and it was so boring. We were learning about something like... grammar or whatever. I wasn't paying attention for I was trying so hard not to fall asleep.

_FWACK._

Owchies. I rubbed the back of my head and turned around to glare at whoever decided to disturb my attempt of staying focused.

What a coincidence. Roxas was the one that threw the crumpled up piece of paper at my head. I bent over to pick it up and carefully read over it, making sure not to get caught.

_We need to talk._

I sighed as the bell rang. Gathering my things, I met up with Roxas who looked around cautiously and dragged me off to the fountain.

"Well?" I asked. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Umm.." I placed my hands on my hips, not impressed by his stalling.

"Hurry up, there's a reason why they give us Lunch Time in school, and right now I'm kind of hungry, so if you could-"

"Gosh, woman! If you would stop talking!"

"Fine fine, what?"

"Well, I-"

"Namine!" Roxas and I turned around to see Kairi running over to us and pausing for a breathe before speaking. "C'mon, Namine. I'm hungry, let's go eat!"

She obviously didn't even notice Roxas standing there, for she just dragged me off to the cafeteria without paying the slightest bit of attention to him.

Once we sat down she hissed something in my ear.

"What were you doing talking to Roxas?"

I paused, shocked from her question. I thought that she didn't notice that he was there...

"What do you mean?"

"You know very well what I mean! You're talking to him like you guys were best buddies when you knew I couldn't stand him! He's the enemy!"

"What on earth? Kairi, him being your enemy doesn't mean that I can't talk to him!"

"You guys are getting too close, soon he'll be hanging out with us," she said, 'us' referring to the group, "and I won't like it. Seriously, do you like him or something?"

"W-what? No! Of course not.. I mean.. well yes, I mean, I don't hate him but I don't have a crush on him!"

For a while, Kairi just stared at me, not looking too pleased with my answer, but she eventually gave up and shoved a sporkful of spaghetti into her mouth.

:-:

"I'm not lying, Yuffie! It's true! At the stroke of midnight tonight, you'll turn into a chicken!" Selphie exclaimed. Yuffie rolled her eyes while I tried so hard to make sure my mocha latte wouldn't come out my nose.

Yuffie, Selphie, Kairi and I were all hanging out at our favorite cafe, Tea Bean. We always hung out in the same corner every time. It was basically our spot, and luckily no one was ever sitting there whenever we stopped by.

Also, since Yuffie's aunt own the cafe, we all got discounts. Hehe.

I turned my direction to the front of the cafe, since my chair faced it, and was shocked to see who walked in. I poked Kairi's arm and pointed to the person. The boy seeing us waved, and that caused Kairi to blush.

"Hey, Sora!" Selphie said as he walked towards us.

"Hey," I greeted, "Do you usually come here, Sora?" He shook his head.

"Nah, Roxas and I have always wanted to stop by though, and we finally got our chance?"

"We?" Kairi asked. "We as in, Roxas is here?" Sora nodded, right before Kairi groaned. Yuffie took a sip of her coffee and turned to Sora.

"Where is that blonde punk anyway?"

I glared a Yuffie who grinned sheepishly. The reason for my glaring? Well, I was blonde...

...and not too fond of the word 'punk'.

"He said he was going to be right back. He wanted to drop off his skateboard and the store next door so that they could fix it."

"What happened to it?" Kairi shot a glance at me, and she would have glared if she wasn't to 'in love' with Sora. Gosh. Sue me for being curious.

Sora shrugged.

"He ran into a tree on the way here so it's all beat up and got split halfway down the middle.." Selphie burst out laughing, obviously finding the whole thing amusingly hilarious.

..Amusingly hilarious. I like it.

"My gosh, he's such an idiot! Who runs into trees nowadays?" We all looked at the hyperactive-brunette, who had ran into a tree the day before. She gave us a confused stare. "What?"

"THEY CAN'T FUCKING FIX MY BOARD!" Someone roared. We all averted our glance to the doorway and gaped.

Roxas blinked.

"Sorry.." A blush crept across his face in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head.

"It's not surprising." Kairi said, stirring the contents in her mug around. Roxas shot a glare at my auburn-haired friend and sighed then looked over to me.

Sora shrugged (for no reason) and told us that he was going to order his and Roxas's drinks and that he'd be back.

"So um.." I said, trying to start up a conversation since I felt awkward from Roxas's glance. "They can't fix your skateboard."

The blonde groaned and sat down in one of the nearby chairs, burying his face in the palms of his hands and mumbled something.

"Um, sorry. Come again?"

"Namine, don't waste your time talking to him." Kairi said. Roxas's head shot up and he glared.

"So now I'm a waste of time?"

"What do you mean 'now'? You've always been."

"So if I'm a waste of time, why are you talking to me?"

"You're the one that started the conversation."

"You're the one that's keeping it from stopping!"

"Well, I'm sorry that-"

"SHUT UP!" Everyone turned to face the woman standing before them. She had long, black wavy hair and pale skin. She was Yuffie's aunt.

"Children, this is supposed to be a serene place, filled with laughter and happiness, not anger and rage." He voice was so calm, it was a surprise that she shouted earlier. But from knowing this woman long enough, it wouldn't be that surprising.

"Sorry." We all said in unison. She smiled then walked away and we all sighed.

"Namine." I turned around to face Roxas, "I need to talk to you..." I nodded then looked over to my friends who didn't look that pleased but let me go anyways. Roxas led me outside to the front of the cafe.

And what he said next shocked me.

:-:

**A/N: As usual. Five reviews a chapter ;D**

**It was a bit short, and pointless, but it gives off clues to things later in the story. So yeah...**

**Kairi and Roxas bickering, Namine participating in the upcoming play, it will all make sense soon. Mwaha.**

**Review, lovelies.**


	4. IV: A Shadow's Discovery

**A/N: I'm not dead! Sorry about the late update. Things have been hectic. But thank you so much for reviewing! Also, I have a goal to get fifty reviews by chapter 10. So, keep reviewing! They help so much!**

**The Shadow**

**A Shadow's Discovery**

**Namine's Point of View**

:-:

My mother had always said that it was because of those cherries she always ate when she was pregnant that made me fluster so easily. Not liking to be so open with my true emotions, I hid behind a mask. No more pink tinted cheeks for me, until now.

I suppose it didn't shock me as much as I made it seem. I guess I kinda knew it all along... what he said. But I never guessed that those simple words that came out of his mouth would make my face become the spitting image of a cherry. Embarrassed? No. Angry? No. But my face thought otherwise.

Looking back on the past few weeks I spent at RGA, things seemed to be rushed. It all started with a little locker encounter, and now he was telling me things my heart didn't wish to listen to. And it was at that moment, more than ever, that I wished I never liked Roxas.

Stupid, _stupid,_ Roxas.

"Well, just try and be nice from now on." I murmured, then whirled around to retreat back into the café, Roxas following suit.

They all asked me why my face was so red. I said because of the heat. They shrugged it off, believing me. Even though it was autumn and the weather was actually really nice.

:-:

We (we being Yuffie, Selphie, Kairi, and I) headed to Kairi's house for the sleepover we planned over our mocha lattes. Everyone's parent's were okay with it, but Selphie's were questioning her on why she was bringing a cage along.

"So we can capture Yuffie when she turns into a chicken, of course!" Was her answer. Her parents didn't question her any further.

:-:

My head rested on my palm, my mind contemplating what had happened that day.

"_It's about Kairi." Roxas said in a low whisper. I crossed my arms and frowned._

"_I'm not joining you in any plans that have to do with my best friend."_

"_No, no! It's not like that! I kinda... sorta... well.. I.."_

"_Say it already." I said, losing my patience and fearing what he was trying to say at the same time._

"_IlikeKairi." He sighed when I gave him an inquiring look. "I like Kairi, and when I first saw her, I tried to be nice but instead something rude came out. And I guess... yeah. We've been enemies ever since. Uhh... why is your face red?"_

So he liked Kairi. It's not _that _surprising I guess it kinda hurts though, since I like Roxas and Kairi is my best bud. But Sora and Roxas are best friends, and they both like Kairi. And Kairi likes Sora..

I sighed while rubbing my temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"Namine? Something wrong?"

I looked up to see the three girls looking at me with bewildered looks on their faces. I shook my head and smiled.

We continued our conversation on guys (typical girls xD) for a while until Selphie, while replying to Yuffie, yelled out some random outburst.

"Yeah, Axel is pretty cu--DON'T TELL ME, NAMINE!"

"Wha-? Don't tell you what?"

"When you were rubbing your head, you weren't trying to contact aliens by any chance, were you?"

"...No..."

"Oh ok. So anyways, there's this guy, Irvine—"

Selphie continued from the conversation we were previously having as if she hadn't said anything, but we still gave her a weird look anyway.

:-:

We all headed to school the next day, and I was surprised to see that all of our friends had joined the play. Ms. Lockhart was calling off names and their roles.

We all kept our real names though, since it was a pretty big play with lots of interesting characters, we didn't want to get confused. I was going to be a Nobody. Kairi's Nobody. Whee.

Roxas was in it also, and most of my scenes involved him in it. I could tell that this play was going to make me have mental break downs.

"Okay everyone! That's it for today!" Ms. Lockhart exclaimed, "Also, if you find that chance to, please practice with each other some time."

I saw Roxas walk towards me out of the corner of my eye, so I quickly grabbed my things and walked off the stage as if I never saw him.

:-:

We all grabbed our things and headed to lunch, Yuffie and I were walking along side Sora, Roxas, and Axel while talking about the play. Kairi was in the art room since she had to finish something up.

"To be, or not to be, that is the question!" Sora exclaimed, throwing is arms up into the air for emphasis. He was pretty excited about the play, and so he was yelling out random play quotes, having us guess them. Actually, they weren't that random. Most of them were Shakespeare.

"Shakespeare." We all said in a monotone voice.

"It is the east, and Jul—"

"Shakespeare."

"Uhh... Woe is me! For my lover has died from the hands of my own sin!"

We stopped walking and seemed to ponder at the quote.

"Did you make that up?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said with his lopsided grin gracing his features.

I just laughed at him, him and the fact that Yuffie just called him a retard.

Kairi caught up with us, and once we all sat down at the table, she made a small grunt and glared at Roxas.

"Ok, why is he sitting here?" She asked.

"Look, Kai. He's a cool dude, just give him a break." Yuffie said while inspecting the brownie on her cafeteria tray.

"But he—"

"Kairi.." She glanced over to Roxas and sighed.

"What?" She snapped. He just sighed.

"I'm sorry for always being rude to you. You just remind me of this one girl from my old school. I never meant to be mean. Now can I sit down?"

Who knew whether the last part was a lie or not, I knew for a fact that he was serious at least about being sorry.

"He's telling the truth, just let the boy sit down." Kairi grunted a little, meaning that he was allowed, even though she reluctantly let him. Roxas shot me a quick glance, thinking that I was paying attention to my food more than anything else at the table. But I caught him look at me. And I didn't like the look in his eyes.

:-:

**A/N: Sorry, it's a bit shorter than the last ones. But please review anyways. Five a chapter, please.**


	5. V: A Shadow's Predicament

**A/N: Un. School start on the 28th for me. So basically. I won't be updating. Also, there have been problems going on in my family, which will make it even harder for me to update. After I'm done typing this chapter I'll work on Pause.Rewind.Play. So yeah. Sorry for not updating that for a while. I suck at plots.**

**The Shadow**

**A Shadow's Predicament **

**Namine's Point of View**

:-:

The school day was over. _Finally._ I plopped down into my comfy office chair and signed onto AIM.

**Kainlovexoxo: **Hey, gurl!

**BrokenArt547: **Who pray tell, is this?

**Kainlovexoxo: **It's Kai!

**Kainlovexoxo**: Duhh!

**BrokenArt547: **Oh. Sorry.

**Kainlovexoxo: **Something on your mind?

**BrokenArt547: **No.

**kainlovexoxo: **Well gosh, you don't have to be so **defensive**.

**BrokenArt547: **I'm not being defensive. So what is up with the new sn.

**Kainlovexoxo: **My old one was getting… old. LOL. And plus, I have some **_GREAT_** news.

**BrokenArt547: **Sora asked you out?

**Kainlovexoxo: **LOL How'd you know?

**BrokenArt547: **The sn was a dead giveaway.

**Kainlovexoxo: **Ok, you seem grumpy…

**BrokenArt547: **I'm not.

**Kainlovexoxo: **Whatever. I gotta eat. Chattalata!

**BrokenArt547: **Em. Yeah, bye.

:-:

I shut the door to my house and wrapped my scarf around tighter. I had sensitive skin, and the cold morning breeze wasn't helping. As I walked towards the school, I buttoned up my coat and soon heard the all too familiar noise coming from behind.

"Heeeyyy, Namine, Wait up!"

I stopped and turned around to greet Roxas, who was (not a surprise) on his skateboard. He stopped and gave me what appeared to be a grin and we continued walking together.

"Something wrong?"

_Why is everyone asking me that…_

"No."

"You seem-"

"I'm not moody or being defensive. And I'd appreciate it if you would change the subject."

That seemed to shut up the blonde-haired kid, and we walked the rest of the way in silence.

:-:

When we arrived into the building, I tugged off my scarf and shoved it into my locker. Roxas stuffed his things inside his own locker as well, and we both waited for Kairi to arrive so we could walk to our classes together. The next thing I saw didn't really surprise me.

Kairi walked down the hallway, hand in hand with Sora and they were both smiling at eachother and laughing at one's joke. When the arrived at the lockers I could sense Roxas tense beside me.

"Hey, guys." Kairi greeted us, smiling like she was the happiest person ever. I couldn't help but smile. It was hard not to. I'm not immune to smiles. Roxas however, forced a grin, making him seem even more stiff than he already was.

"Hey, Sora. Kairi." Sora gave us his lop-sided grin and waved. Roxas nodded in return. The awkward silence was unbearable, and the cold air was getting to me, so I decided to speak up.

"Hey, let's get to class. I'm getting cold from just standing here." Kairi nodded and smiled, and she and Sora walked ahead, leaving Roxas and I lagging behind.

"Did you know that they were going out?" Roxas asked me.

"Uhh.. Kinda. Sora asked Kairi out yesterday."

"Oh."

"Sorry.."

"No you're not." _What!_

"Excuse me? What do you mean by 'no, you're not.'"

"You don't know what it's like to like someone and have them like someone else!"

"How would you know!"

"Well for one thing, You're always smiling as if you don't care what's happening in the world! You're _ always happy._'

I bit my lip was I heard his voice grow cold when he said those last two words. Always happy? He has no idea what I'm going through.

"You don't know me." I snapped and walked ahead, tears running down my cheeks. _How dare he say those things about me?_

Kairi noticed me speed walking through the halls and called after me.

"Namine!" She stopped and turned around. "Roxas, 'the hell did you do to her?"

In reply, Roxas grunted and shoved his hand into his pockets, refusing to answer the question.

:-:

Lucky for Namine, her first period class was with Ms. Lockhart. Meaning that she has play rehearsal with Sora, Kairi, and Roxas.

"_What perfect timing."_

"Okay, class! This will be our last rehearsal! I'm so proud with the progress all of you have done! And remember, the play will be on December 15th, from six to nine!"

There were some 'okay's' spoken as students shuffled about on the stage to get to their proper places. We practiced several scenes until it was my turn. I was seated in front of the long, white table and waited for Ms. Lockhart to give us our cue. Once she did, everyone on set quieted down, and Roxas began his lines.

"Namine… who are you?"

I looked down towards my sketchbook according to script.

"I'm a witch with power over Sora's memories and those around him."

"A witch?"

Now I had to force my eyes to look at Roxas, which was hard, since we were currently in an argument. I nodded.

"That's what DiZ calls me… But I don't know why I have this power… I just do." I paused. "I'm not eve sure if there is a right way for me to use it."

"Hmm… I can't help you there."

"CUT!" We both jumped in our seats and face Ms. Lockhart who looked a bit irked. "Roxas you need to say that line with compassion. Not as if you were gonna chop Namine's head off. Seriously, Roxas. Relax, there's only five more minutes of class left. He nodded ad we continued where we left off until the bell rang.

:-:

I gathered my things and headed out of the auditorium. Roxas trailed behind.

"Namine, wait."

I kept walking.

"Namine…"

I didn't even look back.

"Namine." Now he seemed frustrated. He called my name again, and when I decided to sharply turn around (which was stupid) he bumped into me, causing us to fall over.

"Sorry." I mumbled, as I quickly gathered my books. He shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry." After I kinda hissed at you in rehearsal I realized that I must've hurt you. And I don't really know you that well, so I had no right to get mad."

"Mm." I wasn't used to having people say sorry to me, so I didn't know how to respond. "It's okay, I guess…"

"So, friends?"

"Erm. Yeah. Friends."

I hugged my books close to my chest as I walked down the hallway with Roxas and we stepped into our class. I looked around, to make sure that no one I knew was around and turned to face Roxas.

"I… I liked Sora, by the way." He looked at me for a while, and then the message finally reached his head.

"Oh." He said dumbly.

"And I also liked y-"

"HEY GUYS!"

"Hey, Axel." Roxas and I greeted. I sighed, disappointed and a bit happy that I didn't have to confess to Roxas.

"Let's get to are seats, then." I laughed at how he could be so energetic in the morning and nodded.

"Namine, what were you gonna say?" I just smiled.

"Oh, nothing. C'mon, let's get to our seats before 'Sephiroth-sama' arrives."

:-:

**A/N: Well, that took longer than expected. Turns out I own't be able to update Pause.Rewind.Play. today. But please review! Even though this chapter kinda sucked..**


	6. VI: A Shadow's Ally

**A/N: Ok so… schools over.. and I feel REALLY BAD. I haven't updated… D I hope everyone still wants to read this story after soo long…. No one lost interest… **_**right?**_** Anyways… enough of my blabbering.. leetttss get on with it!**

**The Shadow**

**A Shadow's Ally**

**Namine's Point of View**

:-:

Groans echoed throughout the classroom as 'Sephiroth-sama' pulled out a single sheet of paper.

"Oh stop the surround sound already. Lucky for you, this project isn't going to be so bad. You get to have partners." Whoops of joy came from the students but hushed immediately after earning a glare from Mr. Masamune. "_Cough_. Like I said, you are to have a partner for this assignment, _but I_ get to choose."

Groans again.

"Lets see… Kinomoto will be with Hasegawa." Sora groaned at the knowledge of being paired up with Selphie, who just started giggling (as usual).

"Hikari and Kurosawa will be paired." Groans came from both Kairi _and_ Roxas. Sephiroth-sama went down the list a few more people until he came to me.

"Hara and Masaki."

I glanced over to Axel who gave me a small smile and I smiled back. _At least Axel and I can stand each other…_

When the partners were all paired up, Sephiroth-sama handed us a sheet saying what was required in our project. A five minute skit would be performed on an event in our History books. At first we were able to choose… but then Sephiroth-sama decided that it took too much time so he chose for us.

Axel and I were stuck doing the Oregon Trail. Yipee.

:-:

Axel and I walked down the hallway together, pondering over what we could do for the skit.

"Lets see… we have two days to come up with a five minute skit for History class… on the Oregon Trail…" That's right. _Two_ days.

"Well… want to meet somewhere to work on it afterschool?" Axel suggested. I nodded, and the bell rang, signaling that the next period was about to start.

"Ummm…" I went through my brain, trying to find a suitable place where we could meet. "How about Tea Bean?" Axel nodded and we dashed off to class, not wanting to be late for P.E.

:-:

_Splash_. My eyes widened at the sight of the large swimming pool in front of me.

_Oh no._ We had started swimming in P.E, and Coach Squall (he liked being called by his first name) had given us the order to change into the swimsuits inside the locker rooms. We walked in, and a bunch of the girls crowded around the swimsuit rack, trying to find one the right size.

I just stood in the back and waited until the crowd migrated elsewhere.

"Namine! Quit standing in the back! Come get a swimsuit!" Yuffie called out. She held two up, one being larger than the other and signaled which one was mine. I slowly walked over, earning a raised eyebrow from Yuffie, and grabbed the smaller swimsuit. "Why are you so weird today, Namine?" I shook my head and shrugged, not really wanting to answer.

After changing into our suits, we walked back out and found our class surrounding the diving board. Coach Squall waved his hand, telling us to hurry up. When we got there he told us about how we were going to work on diving.

"Would anyone like to demonstrate?" No one raised their hand. Coach Leon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, okay." He looked around for a while and his eyes landed on Yuffie, who fought back a small blush. "Miss Yamada, you know how to dive, yes?"

Yuffie nodded and looked at the ground. It was so obvious that she had a small crush on the young teacher.

"Alright then. Show us." Yuffie timimdly climbed up the ladder of the diving board and took a deep breath. She dove into the pool and we all clapped politely and her achievement.

"Masaki. You're next."

"Umm.. what?" I gave the coach a strange look as if he was crazy and he grinned.

"You're up." He thrust his thumb in the direction of the diving board. I paled, but nevertheless walked towards the diving board. I looked down towards the pool and gulped. Turning around to try and tell the teacher that I couldn't do it, I lost my footing and fell in.

Everything became blurry and I tried to move but I couldn't. It seemed like a long time until I felt myself being pulled up by two arms and pushed onto the side of the pool.

When my eyes opened, I was surrounded my a bunch of students giving me looks of worry. I heard someone give a sigh of relief and when my vision cleared a little bit more, I sat up giving a groggy look at everyone.

Coach Squall ran his fingers through his hair.

"Thank God you're all right, Namine. It's a good thing Roxas got right into the water to get you. We were waiting for you to come up but when you didn't we got worried."

"Coach, uhh.. was I unconscious?" He nodded.

"Only for a short while though, Roxas performed CPR and—" The back of my neck turned hot and my eyes widened.

"_WHAT_?"

"He saved your life, Namine…

"But.. he.. ah.. why didn't _YOU_ do anything?"He chuckled.

"What can I say? Roxas got to you first." I glanced over to Roxas, who was kneeling next to me, his face red with embarrassment. I looked away, too flustered to say anything. Coach asked me if I was okay, and I nodded. He gave me permission to change and sit on the side and watch. While I left to the locker room I heard him yell out.

"Alright everyone! Lets continue then!"

:-:

After class while I waited for Axel to change out of his swimming trunks, Yuffie came over to check up on me. After I told her that I was okay she said hi to Axel who came out (finally) and left.

"Are you okay, Namine?" He asked. I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah." He snorted.

"Well, you should've seen Roxas. He got right on it." I blushed and waved my hand trying to make him stop.

"Oh geeze, Namine. I'm just playing around, but you seriously had us all worried."

"Erm. Sorry."

We entered the café and sat in the usual seats, ordered the usual drinks from Yuffie's aunt, and got to our work.

As I pulled out my binder I could feel Axel's eyes watching me. I raised an eyebrow and he grinned. I shrugged it off and took a sip of the latte.

"You like Roxas don't you?" _Ahh?! WHAT?! _ Mocha Latte flew out my mouth and all over my binder after he asked me that question. I covered my mouth and glared at Axel.

"I'm sorry. Want to say that any _louder?!_"

"Hey hey hey. You're the one making the scene." I looked at the table in front of me and freaked out.

"Oh my gosh! Be right back!" I left to grab a bunch of napkins and felt the stares of customers on my back. I've been really easy to blush lately, and right now was no exception as I hastily cleaned up the mess. When I was done I calmed down a little more and glanced at Axel who was staring at me with an amused smile on his face.

"What made you.. um think that I liked Roxas?"

"The way you looked at him in P.E after he saved your life. Its not everyday after someone gets saved they look completely mortified and red as you were." Someone made it hotter. I looked at my latte and put it down.

"That obvious?"

"Yeah. Well, for me at least. It doesn't seem like anyone else knows. Especially him."

"Oh…"

Awkward silence. At least for me.

"Don't worry, Nam. I won't tell anyone." I sighed and leaned back in my armchair, covering my face in humiliation. How is this happening to me? How is it possible that this is the worst year ever? Someone was mad at me… I must've done something wrong to receive such punishment.

I looked up at him and his smile was gone. I sighed, knowing that I could trust him.

"Soo… If you want.. I can try and hook you guys up…"

"NO THANK YOU."

"Oh c'mon. I could plan like a get together.. and—"

"Axel… _don't_ make me rip your mouth off…"

"_Or_… I could have a party! And we could play spin the—"

It was a good thing my latte cooled down. Otherwise it would've scorched the red-head.

"What were you saying, Axel?"

"Uhh.. so.. about that assignment! Should we dress up?"

:-:

**A/N: So this pretty much sucked. Please review! DDD**


	7. VII: A Shadow's Hope

**A/N: I haven't updated in a while. I'm sorry ): I hope you all don't lose interest. Something bad happened lately and I want to thank all the reviews I got even though I haven't updated! Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! This is my present to you all!**

**It's a bit short, and kind of a filler, but it has a point near the end.**

**The Shadow**

**A Shadow's Hope**

**Namine's Point of View**

:-:

Caffeine never really affected me, which was a good thing, too, since I was on my third Mocha Latte. I really needed to calm down, because even though Axel was genuine at heart, it really irked me when he added in a suggestion about my relationship with Roxas, or rather, my nonexistent relationship.

"Axel, please. I really don't want to talk about it right now. Actually, I don't want to talk about it _at all_. _Never._ _Ever_!" Exasperated with the redhead, I leaned back in my armchair, discontent written clearly across my face.

We'd been working on this project for a couple hours, still getting nowhere. If Axel and I were making our way across the Oregon Trail, then there's no way—

The idea suddenly hit me.

"I GOT IT!" I yelled out, leaning forward and pumping my fist in the air while doing so. Startled, Axel's tea flew up into the air, and landed on someone all too familiar.

Red liquid shone upon blonde hair, as cranberry tea streamed down Roxas's shocked face. Despite me liking the boy, and being shocked as well at the sight of him, I couldn't help but burst out into mirth, shaking up the atmosphere of the café and aggravating Yuffie's aunt.

Axel laughed along, too. And it took him a while to stop before offering an apology and help towards the other boy. Roxas just shook his head, and shortly afterwards Yuffie's aunt brought some towels and handed them to Roxas.

"So," Axel eyed me, then glanced over to Roxas, "What brings you here, Roxas?"

"I was passing by and craved a scone, so I walked in and saw you guys. But where I originally come from, people don't greet others by dumping tea on their heads." He said while toweling his now sticky hair.

"You didn't make yourself known!!!"

Namine laughed a bit, but calmed it down and grabbed some papers to make her seem busy.

"Oh," Roxas looked down at the coffee table between them, "You guys working on a project?"

"Yeah. 'Sephiroth-sama' gave us only two days to do it. Insane that man is. I'm always wondering why he hasn't been fired yet." Axel m used.

"Well he is a good teacher.. in some ways…" I started. Roxas snorted.

"Just because we all study in fear that he'll cut us up with his so called sword!" I nodded and laughed, agreeing with the other blonde. "So, how far have you guys gotten?"

"Nowhere. Well, Namine started to say something until I spilled my tea all over your head." I snapped when Axel triggered my memory.

"That's right! So this is what's going down…"

:-:

We finished up, finally. Occasionally Axel and I would get into a little argument over something, but that just kept Roxas entertained while he stayed and enjoyed the scone he came in for.

Axel bid his farewell and walked off, and left Roxas and me in the café. And that didn't make me too happy.

_Oh, Axel. Why did you leave me in this situation???_

I gathered my papers and supplies and slung my bag over my shoulder. Roxas snapped out of whatever daze he was in and quickly stood up.

"Oh, hey, we're going the same way, so I'll walk you home."

I nodded a bit nervous and still silently cursing Axel in my head.

But in a way I thanked him. Even if Roxas didn't like me that way, at least I could spend time with him. Stepping outside, the wind blew into our face and I made a small gasp at how cold it suddenly became. Roxas zipped up his jacket and I pulled out my scarf and wrapped it around my neck and we continued on.

It was about ten minutes later when I let out an involuntary shudder. Roxas and I hadn't been talking so I jumped a bit when he spoke.

"Do you want my jacket?" Roxas offered politely. I shook my head.

"No, thank you. I'm fine." My face felt hot at that moment, but the rest of my body didn't.

"Its okay, take it, I've warmed up a bit anyways."

"We're only a couple minutes away. Its fine."

"Exactly, we're only a couple minutes away. I'll survive, just take it."

By this time he had already slipped the jacket off and held it out to me. We stood there for a while, him watching me, and me watching the jacket.

"C'mon, stop looking at it and take it. Its not going to do a dance no matter how long you stare." Reluctantly I slipped the jacket on, but said a small thank you. He grinned, and we started to walk again.

"Your jacket smells like tea."

"Uggh."

For the rest of the way we remained quiet, the silence no longer seeming as awkward as it was before.

For once one of Axel's ideas wasn't such a failure.

:-:

Once I got into my house I jogged up the stairs, cheeks slightly flushed and my heart pounding in my chest. My mother called up to me asking if I was okay and I just responded with a quick 'Yes'.

Plopping myself onto my bed, I stared at the ceiling, trying to recall what had just happened. Well, nothing really big happened between us, but for once I actually felt a small ounce of hope towards Roxas and I having a better…

_This is _so_ embarrassing! Why am I thinking about this?_ I screamed in my head, clutching Roxas's jacket closer to my body and blushing furiously.

_Roxas and I had arrived at my doorstep, and I fumbled through my bag in search for the key to my house. It was a bit dark, so I was having a hard time, but it also didn't help that Roxas was _watching_ me pull out my keys! At the bottom of my bag I reached something cold and with a feeling a triumph I pulled the keys out of my bag._

"_Finally!" I said, holding up the keys with a silly grin on my face. Roxas was staring back at me, with a small smile, and I couldn't help but feel my ears heat up. "Um… oh! I should probably give you back your jacket…" Placing the keys in the door, I hastily tried to remove the garment, but before I was able to successfully pull it off Roxas stopped me._

"_Hey, its fine. Just give it back to me later." He said, grinning. I opened my mouth, about to argue back, but he cut me off again. "My house is more or less five seconds away, and it will take too much time anyways, seriously, just keep it for now." I let a defeated sigh, not wanted to fight about some stupid tea scented jacket, and smiled._

"_Okay, _fine._ I'll see you tomorrow, then?" _

"_Uh, yeah! Hey.. uh.." He lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head a bit nervously and I just watched in anticipation to what he was about to say. "Y'know, we should walk to school together, you know, just for company.. and.. you never know! One day some drunk man will come up to you and—" I started to laugh and he stopped, looking down slightly._

"_Yeah, that sounds fine…" I was wondering why I wasn't stuttering or blushing like a complete maniac, but it didn't matter. I wanted to savor my sudden confidence. "I mean, there's no way I was some drunk guy mugging me on the way to school, right?" He let out a nervous laugh, still scratching the back of his head. I made a note that that is what he usually does when he's nervous… but then again I was kind of wondering _why_ he's nervous._

"_Cool," he said, "then I'll stop by tomorrow at seven?"_

_I nodded, turned the keys to unlock the door to my house and stepped in, giving a small wave before my shyness decided to come back._

I smiled at the memory, suddenly feeling really hot and decided to take off the jacket. Looking at it, I rubbed some of the fabric, deciding I should wash it for him. So I bounded downstairs towards the laundry room, feeling happier than I've felt in a while, and with the feeling that nothing would bring me down.

At least that's what I thought…

:-:

**A/N: Okay, a couple of things to say here. Yes, I put something of a somewhat cliffhanger, but I gave you the chemistry you've been waiting for. So its… even?**

**I also need to figure out a name for Yuffie's aunt. Any suggestions:D **

**And P.S: Juno is the best movie ever. I totally recommend it!**


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